1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to photography.
More particularly, the invention relates to making positive photographic pictures.
Still more specifically, the invention relates to a method of, and an apparatus for, making positive photographic pictures from e.g. the frames of a motion-picture film or the like.
2. The Prior Art
It is often desired to make positive (i.e. paper) pictures from individual frames of a motion-picture film, film strip or microfilm, and the prior art provides several ways of doing this.
One approach is to exactly mark the film frame or frames to be reproduced and then to submit the film to a commercial processor to print paper pictures of the marked frames. This is, however, easier said than done, since it is difficult to mark individual frames without damage to the film and even more difficult to find the marked frames (a film having a half-hour running time has about 30,000 individual frames). Because of the time and cost involved this approach is, therefore, used only in exceptional instances.
Another possibility is to cut from the film a small length having the frame to be reproduced and one or two of the succeeding and preceding frames, and then to submit this length to a commercial processor. However, this involves making two additional cuts in the film and, during later reinsertion, two additional splices, all in addition to cuts and splices previously made during e.g. editing of the film. This is often undesired and therefore this second approach is also used only rarely.
Finally, there exist special cameras, and for single-lens reflex cameras there exist special adapters, by means of which a film frame can be photographed on an enlarged scale. The resulting negative can then be used in an additional step to make positive (i.e. paper) pictures of the film frame. There is no problem with this latter approach, except that it requires special developing techniques for the film and the positive paper which are beyond the abilities of most amateurs. Insofar as microfilms are concerned, the viewing of individual frames of these can be accomplished by means of any of the various readers, some of which are inexpensive enough to be afforded by amateur users (i.e. private individuals or small businessmen). Making copies of individual microfilm frames is also possible with equipment specially developed for this purpose. However, unlike the readers the microfilm frame enlargers and copiers are not inexpensive and are, therefore, out of the financial reach of most amateur users.